Although Pamela Masik's days are consumed with painting a series of childhood memories, working on massive scrolls, turning out environmentally conscious paintings, shaping life-size sculptures and preparing to speak at a conference in Amsterdam, she didn't hesitate to sign on when asked to participate in project to benefit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

"Always ask a busy person, because you know they'll get the job done," Masik told the Courier in an interview via email.

Masik is working with the Be Part of the Bigger Picture campaign to raise money for breast cancer research through the B.C. and Yukon chapter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. The foundation aims to eradicate breast cancer by 2020, so it's collecting 2,020 photographs of women, with an accompanying donation of $20 each. Donors can send a photo of a loved one, someone who inspired them or themselves. The pixilated photos will be transferred to a large canvas that will be manipulated by Masik and unveiled at the fifth annual Pret-A-Pour Tea high tea and high fashion fundraiser at the Terminal City Club, Oct. 27.

Masik has long contributed to causes she believes in. When she was younger, her best friend's mother and her aunt died of breast cancer so she's keen to contribute to finding a cure.

Masik is also well known for her series The Forgotten--69 massive close-up portraits of women missing from the Downtown Eastside. "I thought it was a great social injustice that the women from the Downtown Eastside were ignored and considered disposable in the eyes of society," Masik said. "I created the work with the intention that the collection would be a catalyst for creating awareness and a dialogue toward social change."

The Forgotten series will be shown at the Museum of Anthropology next February, and Masik says the project will be discussed in lectures and in Women's Studies programs at the University of B.C. Masik will visit several high schools, and youth will be challenged to write essays on social change. Women who Masik works with in a shelter in the Downtown Eastside will be hired as gallery guides.

Masik used income from the sale of her lush landscape paintings to fund her four-year forgotten women project. She's working on creating a foundation that would own The Forgotten series and would hopefully sell it to a public institution, with proceeds going toward a social rehabilitation program for the Downtown Eastside. During the Olympics, she opened her Second Avenue studio to visitors to view some of The Forgotten works.

Masik hopes to publish her book about painting missing women such as Mona Wilson, who Robert (Willie) Pickton was convicted of killing.

She expects that a documentary on creating The Forgotten called The Exhibition will be released within the next two years.

The former volleyball jock and fashion model continues to don a silk gown and smear paint on 33-foot long works in live performances.

From choosing painting over a "real" job, Masik has long followed her own heart. She switched from painting at art school to working in the corner of her kitchen while raising her son. Later, when she was experiencing self doubt, Masik went to the New York Art Academy for private training.

"What it taught me the most was how to believe in myself and my work," she said.

For more information about Be Part of the Bigger Picture, see www.pretapourtea.com.

crossi@vancourier.com